Andy & Ari On3 - Texas READY for Bama? | AP Poll Released | G.J. Kinne Joins | College Football Road Trip | Andy On3

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

AP Poll Released | Texas READY for Bama? | G.J. Kinne Joins | College Football Road Trip | Andy On3Today’s show is brought to you by Rhoback, the makers of the world’s most comfortable polos, hoodies, Q-zips, joggers and shorts. Freshen up your wardrobe by visiting https://rhoback.com/ and using the promo code STAPLES for 20 percent off your order.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube - Be sure to subscribe!https://youtu.be/oj_xlUOa6-8The AP Poll for week 2 has been released and we break down the rankings (0:00-5:17)In lieu of the biggest game of the weekend, Inside Texas' Bobby Burton joins to break down the Longhorns and the state of their program before the Longhorns travel to Tuscaloosa for the Week 2 showdown. For more in-depth coverage on the Texas Longhorns, head on over to https://Insidetexas.com (5:18-23:49)The Lines for Week 2 have been released and we preview some of the lines we'll break down in Wednesday's show (23:50-26:19)The architect of the biggest upset of the weekend joins the show. Texas State's Head Coach G.J. Kinne joins to discuss his program and his interesting story of how he wound up at Texas State. He also has an interesting matchup against his high school head coach at UTSA. (26:20-45:37)Rodger Sherman, the man who has been all over the country in 5 days, joins to tell us his experiences after going to 4 college football games in 5 days. (45:38-1:05:10)For the Extra Point, we take a little closer look at the Deion effect at Colorado (1:05:11-1:07:17)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three and it's that weird week of the year where we get the new polls on Tuesday because they had games on Monday and of course that Duke Clemson game on Monday did have an impact on the poll, but we got fresh steaming polls, fresh steaming piles of poll, whatever you want to call it. Listen, we were just guessing before and we were guessing with zero data points. Now we're guessing with one data point. So it's going to be a little hit or miss. When I was a poll voter, when I voted in the AP poll, I liked to really shake things up after the first week. Just sort of go based on only what we'd seen on the field this season instead of other stuff it's hard to do because teams will play cupcakes

and it doesn't really matter but i i'm disappointed in the voters in the ap and the coaches poll like colorado they're 22 in the ap 25 in the coaches poll this is the time to completely overreact and put them at like eight who's it gonna hurt you can just drop them if they lose to nebraska nobody's gonna care come on have hot takes you you have hot takes about neon when you're writing stuff ap poll voters so have hot takes when it comes to putting them in the poll. 22 doesn't feel like a very hot take, AP voters. So Florida State up four to number four. That's your biggest mover at the top. Notre Dame up three to number 10. LSU drops nine spots to 14. This is the part where, as a voter, I don't know if I'd leave

them in there at all. They can get back in by winning more games, but you could just drop them right now. That's just, people want to play it safe. They want to say, oh, no, no, no. I said they'd be good in the preseason, so I'm going to keep them up there. But guys, just take some chances. It's week two. You get to do 12 more of these. Well, 13 more if you count the last one. So what you do now, not really going to matter, but we got polls, Colorado's in them. Now, now we get to have the number next to Colorado's name, which apparently does matter to TV programmers. So when Fox broadcast the Colorado Nebraska game on Saturday, they will get to put the number next to Colorado's name. And apparently that means something in terms of viewership.

So there you go. They got the number. It's probably not as high as it could be because again, one data point, pretty good one. If you thought TCU was good before and Colorado beat them at TCU. You should just jump them all the way up to like, again, jump up to like seven. Who cares? Give Fox a little small number to put next to their name. And apparently we'll draw even more viewers, but we'll see.

We've got polls and that's what really matters. And in the polls, if you're scoring at home, number 11, Texas will be headed to number three, Alabama and Tuscaloosa. How big is that game? It is so big that even the kickers have NIL deals for a commercial for a week of this game.

Like Goldman Sachs was looking around and said, we got the biggest game of the week, Texas-Alabama, eyes on it. Who are we going to get? The kickers, Bert Auburn and Will Reichard. Bert, when was the last time you saw a kicker in a commercial? I haven't seen a lot of interest, even with this hair. But when the game's on the line, kickers are the difference between winning and losing.

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First of all, Burt Arvin's hair is electrifying. That man was made for the camera. Will Reichard, he's the one who solidified Alabama's kicking position after what felt like 15 years of... So these two guys are stars. And I just wondered, if one of them kicks the game winner, does that mean that Congress will reauthorize the Small Business administration? We've got to put some stakes on this thing. And I do think it's funny that if their schools and conferences can go lobby Congress to get an NIL bill that would probably

take money out of their pockets ultimately, I like the fact that they can take money from Goldman Sachs to lobby Congress or something else. It only seems fair. But Burt Auburn, I mean, that man was born to be a star. And I do know that the lazy headline writers of the world are dying for him to kick a game winner against Alabama so that they can just write Auburn beats Alabama. But this game could come down to a lot more than kicks. It may come down to a kick, who knows? But a lot going on in the trenches. Very intriguing quarterback matchup. We're going to break that all down with Bobby Burton of Inside Texas right now.

We welcome Bobby Burton from Inside Texas and the On Texas YouTube feed, which, by the way, your lunch with the coach, that is a must watch. If you're a Texas fan, you bring on coach or one of the, you know, former high school coach in Texas and break down each Texas game. I learned so much watching you guys talk about that Rice game. Thanks, Andy. We try to do it each and every week on Mondays. And Coach Overman won two state championships in the state of Texas.

I was actually at Texas when he was a student assistant there. He went on to be a GA and coaching college before heading on. But, yeah, we love it because we try to go behind the scenes a little bit and really break down some things that happened during the game to give fans an educated look at what's going on. Well, and the thing is it's so hard to judge this, this Texas Alabama matchup because our two data points,

the Alabama middle Tennessee game and the Texas rice game, two, two games where teams beat overmatched opponents. It's not easy to kind of pick through and figure out, okay, this is something they need to worry about. This is something they can, you know, it was just because of the circumstances of that game. But with Texas, I was really interested in, you know, the way they played offensively. Quinn, you were some of the choices he made. One of the things that coach was getting

on him about was Quinn kind of bailing on the pocket when there was no pressure. If you have a clean pocket against Alabama, you got to hang in there and throw. And that's stuff that I would imagine that Steve Sarkeesian is really trying to clean up this week. Yeah, the reality of it is that Texas has to, Andy, be able to execute on offense. Quinn Ewers is only in his second year starting. He only really started half the year a year ago. And so he's still getting into the flow of things. He didn't take a single hit in spring training or fall camp.

So this was really the first time with live bullets in nine months at least. I expect Texas to come out with more RPO game against Alabama to get Quinn more comfortable in the pocket, to perhaps slow down the Alabama pass rush or at least negate it a little bit early and then really try to pick its spots to go deep. That's going to be it. That's what I was wondering about because Texas is so deep in terms of pass-catching targets,

whether it's Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, A.D. Mitchell, J.T. Sanders. They have so many options there, but they don't have B. John Robinson and Roshon Johnson anymore. They do have some young backs that they like. But in terms of security blanket in the backfield, it doesn't feel like that's there anymore. No, they don't. And they lost Cedric Baxter early in the game against Rice with a dinged shoulder or Bruce Stern. And they're not sure if he's going to be back in time for Alabama. He's the nation's number one rated running back last year.

He had popped off a 30-yard run and got injured on it, so he looked good early, but Jonathan Brooks, a junior, has taken over, but to your point, he's not B. John Robinson. Heck, he's not even Roshon Johnson, who was also an NFL draft pick, a backup to B. John last year, and so they don't have that security blanket. They're trying to figure out how to do this. The one thing that I would look for against Alabama, Andy, is can Texas get Xavier Worthy, AD or Adonai Mitchell, the ball in space in one-on-one coverage? If they can, those guys can get open about just about against anybody.

And then JT Sanders against the Alabama linebackers would be another one. That all being said, they have to get time. They have to create time for Quinn in the pocket. And that's going to be a big, big, tall ask, I think, against Alabama. So talking to Jim Nagy from the Senior Bowl yesterday, and we were talking about the Texas defensive line, and Alfred Collins is someone who the NFL scouts just love because of measurables and explosiveness. He's kind of come on quite slowly through his career, but it seems like now is the time. Tevondre Sweat, another guy who's been there a while who developed who looks very good right

now they look the part this is the first time i could i can say that about a texas team i feel like on the defensive line where they look the part where you can compete with an alabama an ohio state a georgia up front defensively since gosh i'd say late you know late 2000s 2009 probably yeah I think they've got three guys that are draftable at defensive tackle this coming year so if they are to Vondre Sweat Alfred Collins and then Byron Murphy is a junior junior and those three guys are all going to get draft grades and you're right That's the first time in a long time. The question I have is not necessarily those interior guys, but against Alabama, you're going to have to keep Jalen Milrow hemmed in.

I don't have any question that Texas is going to be okay up front. Right now, Ethan Burke and Barron Sorrell are your two edge players. Ethan Burke earned the starting job. Oviya Gufu transferred from Texas to LSU as a grad transfer. This year started for LSU, by the way, against Florida State. But Ethan Burke already in his first game had one and a half sacks. Oviya Gufu all of last year had one and a half sacks. So there's an improvement at edge too. Barron Sorrell's gotten better, Andy. So I do agree with you that the front three,

the guys that kind of control the line of scrimmage is a strong point, but I think Texas is hoping to get more out of its edge play this year too and take another step on defense. How important is Jalen Ford, Mike Linebacker, when you're playing a quarterback like Jalen Milrow? I think he's absolutely vital. And I don't know if you saw all of it, but Jalen Ford made a one-handed interception. He's now got five interceptions in the last 13 games or something like crazy like that for a linebacker. He basically keeps the front seven together with the back end. It's his job to kind of communicate between the two. With Milrow, though, I don't know that you can spy him

per se with any one player. I think he's too fast, too strong. I actually think that Texas will be, it'll be important for them to play a little bit of umbrella color coverage to try to get Jalen Milrow to keep him in front of them, right? Instead of beating them with his legs to beat him with the arm. Ford's ability to get in passing lanes is something that, that I want to see. And for Texas to win, Jalen Ford's going to have in passing lanes is something that that I want to see and and for Texas to win Jalen Ford's going to have to be a guy what would it mean for Texas to win this

game just grand scheme how big would this be um it's the first top 10 road game for Texas other than Texas OU with two top 10 road opponent road opponents since 2008 when Texas went to Texas Tech. Texas hasn't traveled to Tuscaloosa in more than 100 years, by the way. So take those two stats out of it. And I would say that this is a, okay, we're here, not a we're back kind of statement game for Texas. We are competitive and we can get things done. It is a statement in the state of Texas that Texas and Texas A&M can compete with Alabamas and whoever of the world. I really believe, Andy, from my standpoint and looking at the whole of the program, it would be the marquee win of Steve Sarkeesian's coaching career.

Oh yeah. Yeah. There's nothing at Washington or USC that would compare to that either. No, that's what I'm saying. And so he's got, he, he, he needs a big win too, not just the university of Texas. And because he's done, he's really struck a chord in the state of Texas with recruits and even nationwide. This would be, you know, him playing the fiddle.

He'd have a real chance in recruiting with a win like this. And so from a Texas program perspective where they've added talent, et cetera, it could be absolutely enormous. We'll be right back with more from Bobby Burton talking Texas, Alabama. But first, I want to tell you about Roebuck. When you see this little dog, that's a Rhodesian Ridgeback. When you see that on an item of clothing, just know the person wearing that item of clothing is more comfortable than you. They're probably more confident than you because they're feeling elite because they're wearing rowback. I've had rowback performance hoodies before. I had some first generation rowback

performance hoodies. I just got this Navy one. I got to tell you, I don't know how they did it. It's somehow softer and more comfortable than the hoodies I had before, which I thought were the most comfortable hoodies in the world, which pretty much immediately got stolen by members of my family. This one, they're not touching it. They're not allowed because there is not a garment on earth that is more comfortable than this. This is going to be my new go-to. You're going to see me a lot in this.

You're going to say, Andy, you're wearing the Navy hoodie again. You're right, because it feels amazing. And this is not one of those hoodies that you're bundling up with. You can wear this in any climate. I live in Florida. It's 1,000 degrees. But this is the type of thing I'm going to wear fishing. So there is a lot to look for at Rowback. You've got your hoodies, your Q-zips, your polos, your everyday shorts,

your joggers, all of it designed for maximum comfort, maximum versatility. And right now, use that code STAPLES, 20% off your first order. So if you want to be more comfortable and more confident than everyone else you see, go to rowback.com. Performance hoodies, polos, Q-zips, you name it. Promo code STAPLES, 20% off your first order. And me, I'm going to sit here and luxuriate in this glorious hoodie for a little bit longer. One thing I would like to have you explain this, because I've been trying to explain it, but I'm not deep enough inside Texas to really get the

point across. I think how different is this Texas team personnel wise from what we've seen for the past 14 years, you know, 12, 13 years, how, how different are they from a standpoint of people on the roster that NFL teams want to draft who can, can hang with elite talent elsewhere? It's a great question. There's, there's a couple of points. One Andy is they have eight to 10 guys that are going to get NFL draft grades this coming season. So they'll have a big, a big group. The real issue for Texas is that not only do they have that top end group, they've had two consecutive recruiting classes that they are panning out.

Like sometimes recruiting classes fall apart, you know, and a highly ranked class looks average at best. This one's not. The last two are not doing that. They played, I think, 12 true freshmen on Saturday. They started one at running back. Anthony Hill at linebacker, Derek Williams at safety. They've got some guys.

And so I look at it and the difference right now is depth, one through 85. They are probably good talent one through 60 right now. And that's the difference between a team that, you know, falls, that doesn't have, Steve Sarkeesian says it this way, I'll rephrase it. He goes, look, our difference between our ones and our twos is much closer than when I got here. So if somebody goes out, there's not this massive drop in expectations or performance. And that's the difference between Texas then and now. All of this, though, a lot of it I think this weekend

is going to come back to quarterback play and where Quinn Ewers is in that phase and where Jalen Milrow is conversely in his phase. Quinn Ewers is interesting to me because I go back to that Alabama game last year and he looked incredible right up until the moment he got hurt. And he was not the same guy

when he came back from the injury. I don't think we've seen that Quinn Ewers again. Can we get him back for this game? You saw a little bit of it against Washington. When Bijan and Roshan were out, they were waiting on the NFL draft. They played Washington in the Alamo Bowl, and Sark relied heavily on RPO game and just let Quinn be the leader of the offense. I think you saw that. I think against Rice, you saw a lot of too tight end looks, which was interesting because I think against Rice, you saw a lot of too tight in looks, which was interesting because I think Sark wanted to kind of show the physicality of the offensive line. I don't think he felt good about that physicality.

In fact, he mentioned it on Monday at Monday's press conference that he was disappointed somewhat in that. I look for Texas to try to really throw the ball around to loosen up the Alabama defense,, make Kevin Steele and that defense try some different varied things. But long story short, Quinn Ewers has to improve as the season goes on if Texas wants to win 10 games and compete for the Big 12 championship. Well, and that's the thing. This will be the last game they're not favorited, probably, for the rest of the regular season. We'll see how Oklahoma rounds into form before they play.

But it feels like this is the shot. This is the chance to do it. How do they manage that going forward? With kid gloves, I think, because the culture at Texas, while I think it's improved with Steve Sarkeesian, it's still tenuous, right? A lot of Texas fans have seen this, oh, we're back. You know, here we come again. We're going to be fine. And then it falls flat on its face.

I think that this team is a little bit different in that depth that we talked about, Andy, is there. So there's a little bit more backbone to it. That being said, I think that you're not far off. I mean, how do you keep that up? And the answer is, I don't know how Texas is going to perform as front runners. And that's what you're really asking because every time they do it, they lose to a K state or they lose to an Oklahoma team.

They had a chance to beat in the big 12 title, those kinds of mix and match things. Very, very interesting. And part of the psyche, you you know we call it PTSD yeah a lot of Longhorns have that right now the last 15 13 14 years that's been the feeling a little bit and so you hit the nail on the head well the the thing that you told me though that I find interesting and the more I think about it it gives me more confidence in this Texas team you talk about the the depth from one to sixty that the backups are almost as good as the starters I find that in those situations the starters are working harder because they know they can lose their job on any day like that is the situation every day at Georgia that's the situation every day at Ohio State. And that's why they sustain

like this. That's what Jim Harbaugh has finally created at Michigan. And I think Texas has not had that in a long, long time. That's the environment I think that does create those teams that are more mentally tough, I think. I agree. I couldn't agree more because, Andy, if you look at it, you and I talk, this is our second or third conversation. If you look at the best teams, there's a saying, iron sharpens iron. Well, it's kind of a cliche, right? But it's true.

Competition in any walk of life typically makes the strong better. And I firmly believe that happens on a football field. I talked to Rod Babers, who's on with us on Texas football and Inside Texas about it, former all-conference cornerback. And he was like, look, who was my backup when I was young? It was Cedric Griffin and Terrell Brown. He goes, I'm going to get drafted. I know I'm going to get drafted, but those guys are probably more talented than me. So what am I going to do to keep my job? And, you know, those are both guys that played 10 years in the NFL that he

started in front of. He goes, look, if I would have come in at the same time as them, I'm probably not going to win that job. Yeah. He is a senior and a junior. He's sitting there going, I'm probably not going to win that job. But he is a senior and a junior. He's sitting there going, I've got to go. I've got to keep my job. And it makes you more technically sound. It makes you want to study more film, Andy. I mean, because you need to prove you're mentally above what a freshman can do because your experience actually matters. So I agree. Well, I can't wait to see it. This is, I haven't been this excited about a game in quite some time. And that's saying something because the games this weekend were pretty awesome. So I can't wait, Bobby. Thank you so much. And, uh,

it's coming. I'll be there on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. So we'll see how it goes. Thank you, Bobby. Have a good one, Andy. Thank you to Bobby Burton. That Texas-Bama game. Bama a seven-point favorite right now. Let's talk some lines of interest for week two.

There's a bunch out there that are intriguing. Notre Dame is a seven-point favorite on the road at NC State is a uh an interesting week for the road favorites we've also got Texas A&M a four and a half point favorite on the road at Miami which that's going to be a very intriguing game Miami looked like it had a running game in its season opener but that's the season opener against Miami of Ohio. Texas A&M's defensive front considerably different looking than Miami of Ohio. So we will see how that one shakes out. Nebraska, Colorado.

Colorado actually opened as a five-and-a-half point favorite after beating TCU. That has been bet down to two-and-a-half. So the Sharps feeling like maybe nebraska will get some stuff figured out offensively uh nebraska's defense looked very good against minnesota last week but tcu's defense i think is going to be okay i don't think it's going to be george's defense by any stretch but i think they're going to be okay. And Colorado shredded them. So I'm very intrigued by what happens with coach prime. Another game that, that fascinates me,

Oklahoma is a 16 and a half point favorite against SMU, but I'm more interested in that total 69 and a half right now. That still feels very low for these two teams. I think if there's a game that is going to feature a ton of fireworks this weekend, that's the one. We'll talk more on Wednesday's show. Our special guest picker will be Jacob Hester from LSU

running back. You can hear him on SiriusXM College. He's deep into the analytics and the advanced stats. I'm curious to see where he goes on some of these games. But he's also a fullback at heart, and so we'll see if that comes back to him and he just picks the team that blocks the best

and has the best big people. But Jacob Hester will be with us Wednesday to talk about that. Now, though, it is time to talk to the architect of a big upset. G.J. Kinney, the head coach at Texas State. They beat Baylor as a massive dog week one. Now they're getting ready to play UTSA. Here's G.J. We are here with the architect

of the largest point spread upset of the weekend. I know that Colorado TCU and Duke Clemson got all the headlines, but it was G.J. Kinney leading Texas State over Baylor as a 26.5-point dog. That was the biggest upset of the weekend. But, Coach, I get the sense that you guys didn't feel like anything was all that surprising to you. Yeah, yeah. We went into that game with a lot of confidence. You guys didn't feel like anything was all that surprising to you. Yeah, yeah. We went into that game with a lot of confidence.

We knew they were a really good team, but we felt like we have a really good team as well. So the guys came out there. They played really hard. Next play mentality, we told them, there's going to be some good plays, there's going to be some bad plays. Just go to the next one. And that's what they did. And we looked up at the end of that thing and celebrating the locker room and had a lot of fun we've seen

some big roster flips this year obviously Deion Sanders has been in the news a lot for it Kenny Dillingham had to do a big one at Arizona State but you got 72 newcomers on your team 52 new scholarship players how did you get everybody to coalesce as quickly as you did? Yeah, I think we have a really good staff. We have a young staff. But, you know, we had a blueprint. We had a game plan, and we were able to go out there and execute it. And from the moment I got here, you know,

we had some really good players leave. We have some players right now that were at Texas State last year that are starting at different schools. So when I got here, I had some really good players leave. We have some players right now that were at Texas State last year that are starting at different schools. So when I got here, I had to replace those guys. We had some guys that graduated, had to bring in some guys. And obviously we're going to recruit Texas High School, like I said, like our hair is on fire. So we were able to sign a couple high school kids.

And, you know, we won't be able to do this again next year. You know, that's not the every every year is not going to be like what we did this year. But, you know, it was a lot of fun, a lot of official visits, a lot of dinners, a lot of hibachi. But yeah, it was it was fun. And we have a bunch of really good guys. You know, I think anytime you go into the portal, sometimes it can be a little scary, but we try to identify guys, one that we either had a relationship with, we recruited them, we knew their high school coach, I knew a college coach or somebody that played with them.

And so we're able to do that. And then we look for those unique traits. I like big guys. We're able to get some length. We're able to get some size up front on both sides and some speed. And I think that was, you know, when we showed up to play Baylor, to be honest with you, you know, we looked like the Power 5 team. So, Hibachi, is that the secret to getting the big guys when you bring them in?

It helps. The Hibachi definitely helps. You know, you got, you know, you can go the chicken, the steak, or you can go the combo and then, you know, that's where it's at. Well, and the giant pile of rice, like that's as a, as a guy who used to be a lot bigger, when you see that giant pile of rice and you know, there's going to be a bunch of meat in there like that. Yeah. I'm there yeah no veggies i go no veggies rice and just the chicken and steak no veggies beautiful so the guys you brought in it's interesting because like tj fenley your quarterback he played at lsu and auburn but he's throwing to to joey hobert who

made that incredible one-handed catch on the sideline he was at utah tech like how did you how did you find all these people because it's obviously a different experience recruiting somebody who's coming from auburn and somebody who's coming from utah tech yeah yeah tj tj was one of those deals where i remember where i was at i was uh in new braunfels um over there and and uh i saw his name go in the portal. I talked to a couple people, got his number, reached out to him and kind of gave it my spill. And he came on an official visit later that week,

and he had a couple other P5 OVs lined up. And after the OV, he canceled them and decided to be a Bobcat, which was huge, you know, because he's a difference maker. You know, I think he's an NFL quarterback. You know, he's got the size. He's got the arm. He just needed to be in the right system. And if you look in his career, you know,

the guys that recruited him for their system kind of left. And so it was a situation where we felt really confident in his abilities. We just, you know, had to get him here. So he had to graduate. We had to go through that whole process. And we felt really confident in his abilities. We just, you know, had to get him here. So he had to graduate. We had to go through that whole process and we got him here in the summer. And, and he really, you know, you could see his leadership and you could tell he'd been around a bunch of really good coaches.

So that was a pretty smooth transition. And then, then Joey, you know, Joey actually played for coach Stutzman, our receiver coach pass game coordinator. So that was that connection there. And once again, he had some big time offers and some P5 offers. But the relationship part of it is really big. And knowing what type of offense he was going to play in, that's what we told him.

Hey, yeah, you can go to this school, you can go to that school. But, you know, are you going to get the ball or, you know, are you going to be, you know, one of the main guys? Are you just going to be a guy over there? So he believed in this and the relationship went a long way. So your coaching career is amazing because you finished playing football in 2016 and started coaching. And you've been somewhere different every year. You've been at SMU. You've been at Arkansas.

You've been with the Philadelphia Eagles. You've been at UCF. You were the head coach last year at Incarnate Word in San Antonio. And now here, I imagine that helped you in terms of the portal recruiting because you probably did have quite a few more relationships and quite a web of people you could call about, hey, you know this guy? Did you root with this guy? Oh, 100%.

That's exactly right. And I used all of them, believe me. When you sign that many guys, you're talking to a lot of people. And, shoot, talking to high school coaches in Texas. Because that's really – that was our target were guys that, hey, they played Texas high school football, they went to this school, that school, and then we're able to get them back. But, you know, I know guys at Auburn.

And where else did we sign guys from utah tech i didn't really know anyone i guess coach arkansas yeah arkansas we knew people with malik and and that whole deal smu you know we signed a guy from there kansas state we know the strength coaches there you know so a lot of times it's all about the relationships because when you when you take someone oklah, we found a bunch of Oklahoma guys. I know coaches there, no players there. So it was one of those deals where, you know, you try to use as many, you know, phone calls and as possible. And I did I did figure out this, the the GAs and QCs, most of the time they'll tell you the truth more than the full-time guys, because, you know, sometimes they're trying to, you know, just get rid of them, or basically the QCs,

they all want jobs, so they'll tell you the truth. Well, and you're so much closer to being a QC than most other head coaches. I mean, that was only a few years ago for you, so I don't, when you've been a head coach for 20 years, they might not be so willing to tell you the truth. They might be afraid of you at that point. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. So your offense is fascinating me too,

because you played at Tulsa. Gus Malzahn was your OC. There's a young Mike Norvell running around back then. And, but you took a lot of that and then you go to UCF with Gus, his first year there, and you're kind of breaking it. You know, Dylan Gabriel, you're inheriting him. And I heard you talk in an interview about looking at Josh Heupel's offense that Dylan had been playing in and saying, I really like a lot of this. You could marry a lot of the wide split vertical choice stuff with Gus's run game

yeah and come up with a pretty fun offense yeah yeah you you hit it um exactly right when I got to UCF obviously I've you know I played for Gus and have a ton of respect for him and and to his credit we had Dylan Gabriel who you know put up a lot of stats and he was a really good quarterback returning quarterback he said hey go in there and and learn what they did and and uh you know, put up a lot of stats and he was a really good quarterback, returning quarterback. He said, Hey, go in there and learn what they did and, and you know, what's he good at and we want to incorporate some of that stuff. So we were able to do that. And, and you know, so I sat in there with Dylan every day for, for a whole off season and kind of going through his reads and what

coverages they like this play against what, what they like this against. And, and, and then, you know, obviously we were starting to do some of that stuff early in the season. Dylan gets hurt. We don't get to do as much of it. So when I got the Incarnate Word job, I met with Coach Lefwich and kind of told him, like, hey, this is kind of the vision I have for this thing.

And we had a really good background as well. You know, his dad, Coach McAuliffe, which is my OC, his dad was my offensive line coach at Tulsa. So we kind of had that connection already. And he was very intrigued by the wide splits and the vertical choice game. And so it was a perfect fit. And after we talked, I said, yep, this is my guy. We're going to do this.

And we both had a a background you know a lot of chip kelly's passing game when we were with philly was a bunch of air raid stuff uh you see a lot of mesh you see a lot of snag um that that type of stuff and that's what the background he came from so we're able to combine some of that past game and i think that's what kind of makes us a little bit different as, as we really are. We're kind of, uh, you know, we go wide splits all the time, but we're, we're able to find unique ways to still get some of those air raid pass concepts in there and run mesh and, and, uh, that type of stuff that maybe sometimes those, those deep choice guys don't run. So, um, and then the run game, uh, like you said, uh, from our background and, and, uh, you

know, coach Shoemaker, um, our offensive line coach and run game coordinator, um, some of the stuff that we do, you know, he was, um, with browse for a long time. And so that, that really worked out. Yeah, exactly. That, that really worked out well because they're the, they're, he's really the originator of the wide splits and doing all that stuff. So it was right up his alley too. So it was really one of those deals where I got to incarnate word and, and it was, it was like a perfect match, you know, us three kind of doing it. And then, and then you add Craig Stutzman to the equation this year,

who's been a run and shoot guy his whole life worked for June Jones. And now we're incorporating some of that stuff. And so it's like's it's it's been really cool um you know we we got so many ideas and so many sometimes you go like all right that's good but we ain't doing that right now we can't do it this might be the most Texas offense ever conceived that's that's so another thing I find really interesting is your your quarterback in incarnate word was Lindsey Scott, who had started his career at LSU. He'd gone Juco and you've got him working with your quarterbacks now at Texas state. How much does that help having a guy who's been in their shoes to help them along? Oh, it really is big. It's awesome. And, and I know he's got a great career if he chooses to go with the XFL and hopefully get a chance in the NFL, but I'm telling you, he's a really good coach.

He can really do it. And, you know, with all these new rules and stuff, he can't really coach on the field, but he's able to be a, you know, a lifeline for those guys and text them and talk to them on the sidelines, that type of situation. So he does a really good job. And, you know it it's easy um he kind of get that instant credibility um just because you know he had 71 touchdowns in the offense last year 60 pass and 11 rushing and so those guys listen to him and lindsey's very smart he's a great teacher um so

yeah he's got a really bright future in the coaching profession when he gets done playing so speaking of of futures in the coaching profession when he gets done playing. So speaking of, of futures in the coaching profession, we got to talk about this matchup this week. Y'all play UTSA, Jeff trailer. Y'all have a lot of history. So we'll,

we'll go back to 2005 when you're in high school. Yep. This is, so my first exposure to, to the family name and, and probably a lot of people who are watching this is it made national news. Your dad was your head coach. He got shot by a parent of another player.

Yep. In 2005. And so that, but that's the season that ended with you playing trailer's team, right? And upsetting them in the playoffs, right? Yeah, exactly right. So, yeah, that incident happened April 7, 2005 with my dad getting shot. And obviously I was a young guy.

And that was very tough on our family. And, you know, seeing him go through that and basically me kind of growing up and being the man of the house and really running the football part of it, running the family part of it. And then he was able to, you know, obviously he had like a five, 10 percent chance to live. And so him dealing with what he was dealing with and him coming back and he coached us that first. He was there for the first practice in two days and then was able to coach that whole season. We ended up going 12-2, and like you said, we were able to beat Gilmer in the second round of the playoffs, 61-58.

And that was kind of my first exposure to Coach Traylor and just the way they played and the offense they ran and everything like that. I had a lot of respect for them. And then my dad gets the – he was the national coach of the year and gets the Baylor job. Funny story about that. Coach Malzahn always gives me and my dad a hard time

because he went undefeated and they were the number one team in the country and he didn't get national coach of the year that year when he was at Springdale. But my dad tells him, you know, he got it. He did get the Arkansas OC job. So yeah, exactly right. So, you know, that all happens. My dad gets the job at Baylor.

And and so, you know, I'm looking for a place that that's going to continue to to grow me as a quarterback. And, you know, Gilmer wasn't too far away. And so I decided to move me and my family moved to far away. And so I decided to move. Me and my family moved to Gilmer. And so I got to play for Jeff. My brother won a state championship for Jeff. And so, you know, it was one of those deals where it was instant.

You know, we really got along. And Jeff's like family to me. I love him and I have a lot of respect for him. Could you tell as a player that he was destined to be what he would become? Yeah, yeah. It was pretty easy. Like you tell as a player that he was destined to be what he would become? Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was, it was pretty easy. Like he's a big time coach. And even when we were at SMU in Arkansas, you could tell, like, I had never seen him in that assistant role, but his kids loved him. His kids always performed. His kids were always our best players on our team. And that wasn't by accident. And, you know, so I knew when he got his opportunity in college that he was going to just take it and run with it and do exactly what he's been doing.

And so it's been really fun to see his, you know, really rise. Like, it's not a surprise to me or anyone that's been around him what he's been able to accomplish. How weird have these first few weeks been for you? Because your brother is on the Baylor staff. Yeah. This is folks with UTSA, folks that you've known for most of your life. How do you handle, obviously, the deep personal connections, but not trying to give away anything when you got to keep a competitive advantage yeah yeah my Baylor's on the roster there he's a he's a walk-on

receiver there oh that's right that's right that's right yeah my dad my dad play he was an all Southwest Conference linebacker there he's a Baylor legend he coached there at one point my sister graduated from Baylor um you know so I have a lot of history there with that school I was committed to Baylor at one point uh before I flipped to Texas so there was a lot of history there at Baylor and then then the next week you turn around and play your old high school coach with coach Traylor who's you know arguably the the best um you know coach in the country you know I I think that highly of him. So it's been very unique. And one of those, like my wife said the other day,

like we just got to get through this one. Let's get through this one. And, you know, one of those type deals. They don't get any easier, though. No. Pete Taylor, you got to turn around and do this. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt.

It's tough. But the good thing, like you said, I've been in a couple different places. So it's one of those deals where usually I know someone on the other team that you're coached with or played with, one of those type deals. Well, and one thing you've said, and I've noticed just following you on Twitter, you really do want to recruit the state of Texas. You want to have the high school coaches in Texas have a good relationship with your program. I've seen high school coaches posting pictures

from your practices and how important is it to have that group be close to your program and understand what you're doing there? Yeah, it's, it's huge because, you know, I, I'm a firm believer in, in showing up with the better players. And I feel like Texas has, you know, the best territory to recruit and they got the best high school coaches, they got the best programs. And so, you know, maybe if I was at a different place, I wouldn't feel that strongly about it. But being in Texas, you have to recruit Texas high schools. And there's some really good coaches. You know, every time I go to one of these stops and recruit a school, I try to, you know, learn something. We talk offense, talk defense, and I always end up learning something.

So we're always going to recruit Texas. That's where the Take Back Texas, you know, hashtag came from. And, you know, I think it's been really positive, especially after you beat a team like Baylor, like the recruits. You know, maybe there's a different type of recruit now that's, you know, responding to us and we're able to recruit. So you got UTSA this week. Does the winner get control of I-35? I think so. You already beat Baylor. I mean, maybe we have to ask the Longhorns. We have to ask the Longhorns. Their stadium is right off the interstate. Yeah, yeah, they're pretty good too. I mean what what a year in the lone star state coach thank you so much and uh and good luck against a very familiar opponent yeah i appreciate that

thanks for having me on and and this is a lot of fun and and uh hopefully we get to do it again sometime soon that was a lot of fun with gj ken, and I think we're going to be hearing a lot more from him as time goes on. That start at Texas State was no accident. This guy has been an up-and-comer in the coaching world for quite some time, and I think you're going to know his name very, very well in the next few years. When we come back, Roger Sherman, former writer for The Ringer, decided he was going to take a college football odyssey this season. He plans to go to more than 60 games. He started this weekend with four in five days in a car. It started in Salt Lake City. It ended in Durham. Roger's going to take us through his

weekend and what he's planning to do this season. It's the dream. I'm telling you, it is the dream. Here's Roger. We're joined now by a man who is living my dream. Roger Sherman, you used to read him at the Ringer. Now you're seeing him in a car in Durham, North Carolina. He's been in a car pretty much all weekend. So lately, before we talk to Roger, let's lay out the travel log here. Thursday night, he was in Salt Lake City at Florida Utah Saturday he's in State

College at West Virginia Penn State Sunday he's watching his alma mater Northwestern get destroyed at Rutgers and Monday night he's in Durham to watch the greatest win in Duke football history and I apologize Steve Spurrier for saying that but I think it probably was the greatest win in Duke football history and I apologize Steve Spurrier for saying that but I think it probably was the greatest win in Duke football history I I over the course of this first week where I tried to go to five games in five days and drive most of the length of the United States I realized that I I had bit off a little bit more than I could chew with the driving um i will not be attempting a week like this past one again there were some touch and go moments and we luckily my um my wife came along with me for the first week it was the one week she was gonna do with me if we do this as planned we might end up dying because we were just planning on driving through the night uh

on back-to-back nights and instead we got a hotel room which was the smart move um and we survived uh but i i really uh i'm gonna be a little bit smarter with the planning going forward my man i i am glad well you don't have to worry about because there won't be wall to wall from thursday to monday like this again. It's just most of the best games will be concentrated. There will be occasional Good Friday games, but mostly Saturday. So hopefully – There will be Tuesday to Saturday, though.

Oh, that's true. You're going to Maction. Yeah. I really hope that the games that you choose those weeks, the Saturday games are in the big 10 so that you can. Yeah. Yeah. And,

and at least the Mac games are close to each other, right? They're like, you know, in Ohio, you know, well, we might have to leave out the Buffalo bulls as much,

as much as I support them as, as an athletic program. They, they might not be a top priority because they're not as centrally located. You need to stay in that Toledo-Bowling Green-Akron triangle if you can. And then if you need to bump up to a Michigan game on Saturday or a Michigan State game or go down to an Ohio State game, you're good. After skipping the game the other night,

I kind of realized people won't be intensely mad at me if I miss a game or two here or there. I'm not trying to set any records. I'm just trying to live on the road for four months and watch college football. And I think, um, people were still very applauding. Like I, I, I felt a little bit bummed when i realized i wasn't going to be able to do the five games in five days dream that i had planned for myself um and then it turned out everyone was still like holy crap dude you went from utah to penn state and there was no negative

i'm so mad you missed the missouri state kansas game pushback so I'm allowing myself to dial things back. Maybe from like a 11 to like a eight is where I need to be. This road, Raj comps concept, which you're doing, you know, this is a big project. It's multimedia. You've got Patreon subscribers helping you out.

You're chronicling it on various social media platforms. Thanks man. Yeah. And I'm hoping there's a book in the offing because I would love to read a book from you about this. But I say this is my dream. And the amazing part to me is you explaining that your wife came with you for the first week because if I'd even suggested this to my wife,

she would have divorced me. Yes. Like I said, extremely single man's endeavor um my my wife has been oddly supportive um you know just apparently trying to get rid of me for four months um but no like uh she um the story is she's in like a really intense like nursing program right now. She's getting a doctorate in nursing. She's an actual important member of our society as opposed to being you. And so, you know, she's pretty busy. She's like heading into her final year of this program.

And I brought this idea to her. She was like, yeah, go do this now while I'm busy and before we have kids because you are super not going to do this if we have started a family. You cannot go spend four months on the road. I think um it's it's a one-time deal i i am not going to be permanently spending four months per year going to maxion and conference usa games um they're we're we're trying this this one time kind of seeing like you said the multimedia thing seeing what works seeing what doesn't seeing if there's you know like viability in being a

youtube guy that the thing people do um and uh yeah like you said um if if any of you guys know literary agents i would love to write a book about this because everyone just keeps saying, are you writing a book about this? Because it's such a book. It is. It's a book. Well, it's not just college football. It's a story of America because you are going to see. It's a story of America.

It's a story of America. You're going to see America in the process. Yes. I cook out for see America in the process. Yes. I ate cookout for the first time last night. Oh, what did you get? Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was the tray?

So I feel like I panicked with the tray a little bit. But, I mean, it was great. My main takeaway was that, like, the milkshake at cookout is, like, an actual milkshake and not just, like, a McFlurry situation. That was incredible. Chocolate banana. That's the way to go. I got banana, and not just like a McFlurry situation. That was incredible. Chocolate banana. That's the way to go. I got banana and it had little bits of banana in it. I got a spicy chicken and then I panicked on the sides and I got corn dogs and a corn dog and hush puppies. And like, obviously they were both good, but that's too much of the same thing i basically got like like fried corn product and other fried corn product and and like i i was i was pressured i was the only person above 21 years

old waiting in line at the durham cookout after they pulled off the greatest upset in duke football history um uh everyone else clearly was a cookout expert I think my I sort of knew They live in the Carolinas, they know You can be excused And you think The Story of Duke people tell is that they're not

From the Carolinas They are outsiders They're people from New Jersey But everyone seemed to understand the cookout rules except for me. I'd heard the legend of it, and they really do not understand the concept of sides. They do not. They just have additional meals that you can put next to your meal. Let's show the folks what you were coming from, though.

This is you right before the field storm where you accidentally show Duke scoring a touchdown. The telltale sign of when there's about to be a big college football upset. The student section has abandoned the upper part, and they are all masked right here. Go, go, go! abandons the upper part and they're all massed right here that's also a pretty good sign of a college football upset you have a futures meteorologist

with you yeah um you've you've you've uh you've got to go in reverse a little bit. they're watching the game, you know? Oh yeah. It's a mall. Every Florida opponent does the alligator. Like we're going to cook alligator at the tailgates. Like I've seen that multiple times. I don't know who the alligator plug is. Who's providing everybody with alligator,

but I'm not sure if it's coming from Florida. It seems like the most, it it's coming from Florida. It seems like the most. It's definitely coming from Florida, probably from some folks who live within 20 miles of me. There are quite a few folks with their bang sticks that make sure they collect the alligators when they need to be collected so that people who play against

Florida can cook alligator for tailgates it's it's quite a you know teaming industry so basically my um my like my thesis here and hopefully those videos um sort of show what I what I'm going for here is you know I've I've been writing about football, like, you know, you've seen me at national championship games in the press box. That's probably where we met. Um, you know, I, I mainly have been doing blogging, uh, from my house and I haven't been going out and, you know, seeing the stuff that you see in the stands that you see in the parking lots that like is what draws so many people to college football um i've just been a guy with a laptop up in the press box um you know getting the box score and describing the on-field action but college footballs you know it's it's so much more than that you can't fully

capture what people love about the sport just just you know i i i think you have a pretty solid understanding of this i've you know it that it's so it is so closely linked to like our lives like within any other sport it it's it's it's stories of places and people and things. And yeah, I'm trying to make little dumb videos showing that. And I'm also trying not to die. Those are my top two things. Don't die and show some stuff that people can't see on TV. Favorite moment of this four games in five days? Odyssey.

So storming the field is pretty tough, is pretty tough to top right off the bat. I asked at a game, I would say I, there was a squirrel on the field in West Virginia or at Penn State and I really thought for a couple of seconds that he was a goner because he was running towards the West Virginia Mountaineer who has I believe an armed rifle with I believe that it shoots

something out of it. I assume blanks. i assume just like a smoke propellant but it still seems like that would be enough to take down your run-of-the-mill squirrel so i after the game uh which west virginia did not win i went up to the mountaineer mascot and even though they had just lost and i was wearing opposing colors i asked him uh why why is that squirrel still alive and he said it's because because we weren't in morgantown if we were in morgantown i would have i would have shot that squirrel um i didn't know we have we have the video of of the squirrel on the field.

For those watching the video, Roger has moved because the phone was overheating in the car. And so now he's... I'm in the shade of a cabin. There's a tree providing some decent shade nearby. Yeah, no. Part of the problem with making content about driving around the United States in a car is you have to make content while driving around the United States in a car.

Like I'm trying to figure out every aspect of it. But you're getting some good like bug noises right now. As a city boy, I only know that as like generic country bug noise. I think they're I'm not 100 percent sure what type of bug that is that's making. It's crickets rubbing their legs together trying to get other crickets to come have sex with them. That's pretty much what's going on. But I do have one more question. It's a very important question because obviously you went to a Penn State game.

So that means you entered the state of Pennsylvania from the West. You went to state college, you then moved down the Eastern seaboard. So this makes you uniquely qualified probably to answer this question. Sheets or Wawa. I've had both of them one time in my life. And I had a, I've, the thing is you've really, you've set me up here because most of the time I'm just trying to be positive and tell everybody that their thing is great.

And like your school has unique things about it that, that other people don't know about. And it's fascinating and the food is good and experiencing all these great things and you put me in a position here where i'm going to make 50 of the great state of pennsylvania come and hunt me down and the answer is the answer is the answer is yeah i've only had them once soetz has time to win me back over. That's the number one question you had, Sheetz or Wawa? Roger, you've met me. Gas stations are very important to me.

As someone who also has traveled a bunch between college towns, like this is, this is where I feel like if, if I was on this trip, what I would be doing is just judging gas stations the whole time. You know, I'm not trying to screw up my sponsorships. If at some point one of the gas stations is like, we need to,

we need to, but I'm, I'm working on getting a loves travel stop uh sponsorship i just feel like they're they could really use road roge um i can take that to the next level so i know a guy are you is this a joke or do you know no no mr love there's a college football connection to this so gabe eichard former oklahoma center yes currently is on the oklahoma radio broadcast crew he works for sirius xm is married into the loves dynasty oh my god i i like genuinely extremely passionate about

loves me loves merchandise before this is i listen listen i'm like sort of joking and sort of not i will probably use them regardless of whether they sponsor me or not uh i do not i'm not good at convincing people to sponsor me yet except for a home field apparel uh by your wonderful home field t-shirt um uh there's a promo code or some shit like that um Carol, buy your wonderful home field t-shirt. There's a promo code or some shit like that. But I'm like a little bit like I would be starstruck to meet the loves travel stop dynasty. Well, so I'm glad you said that because I am a big i'm a big proponent of loves the pork tamales on the roller grill hard to beat i've i've i've already used them like i've been doing this about approximately nine days and i at least i've probably been there at least 10 times at this point i'm filling up a

lot and they're open 24 7 and i'm not they're not paying me yet i'm paying them at this point um they generally have like a replacement level fast food option available like which is the best thing you can get at 4 a.m is you know they they have like a legitimate fast food restaurant inside the store i'm i'm all about it they have all the charging things i need they have the one recommendation i was given for this trip from ben chase florida fan who did it last year was buy caffeinated gum uh so they sell caffeine gum and caffeine chocolate at the front desk. And, um,

I, I prefer the chocolate to the gum, but the gum really, the masticating, uh, process can keep you a little bit like energized too. So I'm going to look into that as well. You should always masticate and drive every chance you get.

Roger, thank you so much i am clipping this and i am sending it to the highest levels of loves to see what we can do i mean you're talking you're talking to a loves rewards member uh so so okay i wanted to i had a conversation at 4 a.m with uh a loves employee and i was like so they have one tier of rewards for that anyone can sign up for and one tier for professional drivers and i inquired about what the definition of professional driver was i was like i'm driving professionally i'm going to 60 college football games apparently they literally mean like you have to have a CDL or something like that, which I, I don't, I, I, I do not have one of those.

So that, that fell on heart that, that, that didn't work out, but you know, hook me up. I'll, I Love's Travel Stops t-shirt. We will see what we can do. This is going to be so much fun. I cannot wait. Hopefully we can have you back on as you go through. I mean, your first week, you packed a year of college football into one weekend. I cannot imagine what you're going to do in a whole season.

Thank you so much, Roger. I'm so excited and scared. Drive safe. Thanks, Tim. For today's extra point, let's examine the Dion effect at Colorado a little further. It actually can be measured in real dollars. Last year, if you wanted to attend all of Colorado's home games, if you wanted to buy one ticket to each of Colorado's home games,

you could have done that for as little as $222. So you could have gotten the whole home schedule, one ticket, $222. Our friends at game time right now, the lowest price to get in to Colorado, Nebraska. The Huskers coming to Folsom Field. You see Ralphie running. You're going to see Matt Rule smock. You see Coach Prime, Travis Hunter. The lowest price up in the corner, $345. So it is more expensive to go to this one game, thanks to Deion, than it was to go watch the entire season last year.

That is a successful coaching hire. Say what you will about the man's methods. He gets stuff done, including providing a ton of value for the school. It's already sold out. The secondary market is skyrocketing. And it can only go up from here if they keep winning. And guess what? After what we saw on Saturday, there's a good chance they might do it.

Tomorrow, we're making our picks against the spread. Special guest picker Jacob Hob hester former lsu star you can hear him on sirius xm radio now he joins us will he go for the full background and just pick the teams that block the best or will he dive into the analytics again we'll see we got a lot of games to pick it is a really loaded college football saturday coming up we'll pick the games with jacob tomorrow We've got a lot of games to pick. It is a really loaded college football Saturday coming up. We'll pick the games with Jacob tomorrow.